Tadpole Tails

This Easter will be like no other for some very good friends of mine. After years of infertility, God showed them that adoption was not His Plan B for them, but His Plan A. God led them to adopt two precious boys from Ethiopia in 2010, but they sensed that God was not done with His plan. This time they were led to adopt a young boy from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Like many who walk this road, the adoption process was filled with many ups and downs. Unfortunately, after all the paperwork was done and the adoption legal, everything came to a halt. Because of corruption and unrest, the government stopped issuing Exit Letters for adopted children. For two long years my friends have been praying and working with the US and DRCongo governments to let their son come home. Weeks ago they finally received the Exit Letter and as I write this, they are in the DRCongo meeting their son for the first time. For this family, today was a day everything changed!

I am sure you can point to days in your life where everything changed. As we head into Good Friday and Easter Sunday, let’s keep in mind that both days changed everything for us. Good Friday is the day that Jesus defeated sin by taking on the full penalty of sin on the cross. Easter is the day that Jesus defeated death by breaking free from the grave. Let us join Paul as he shouts out in 1 Corinthians 15:15 (NLT), “Thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The truth is we are all like that orphan boy in DRCongo. We are all precious in God’s sight and it is God Himself who wants to adopt us into His family. Do you feel like a child of God? Do you live in the reality that God rescued you from sin and death? Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:5 (NLT), “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”

May your Easter season be filled with great joy as you remember that Good Friday and Easter Sunday were days that changed everything! He is risen; He is risen, indeed!